i diagnosed one of my buddies car last week and i was getting intermittent spark at the wires. so we went ahead and replaced the plugs since it was overdue and tried a new rotor. nothing. so i tested again and i was gettin intermittent spark at the distributor cap to the wire. we got all new wires and cap. it turned on 4-5 times and stayed running. we left runnin for half an hour and it was good. as soon as we turned it off and tried again it wouldnt turn on. once we got it on again we drove it and it wouldnt go over 20. what should i diagnose next? switch? igniter? coil?

 

ive done some research and it seems this could be a coil problem. any way to test it? the switch could also be a possibilty what do you guys think?

 

See diagram in FAQs sticky.

Also take ICM to AutoZone for free testing.

 

alrite ill have a look thanks

 

tested everything from the plug wires all the way thru the cap and then the coil and icm. coil wasnt givin me any spark so i checked to see if the icm was giving the coil power and it wasnt. removed icm took it to two autozones and it failed a total of 6 times. getting a replacement soon and i will post the results thanks for pointing me towards the diagrams. they really helped out when testing the power to the icm and coil.

 

replaced icm on monday and the car starts fine now thanks for the help. the fluctuating tachometer was a great sign that the icm was on its way out. i was told it was doin that intermittentley for the past 2-3 months.